A few weeks ago in London, at a pre-conference dinner before the Platts Digital Commodities Summit, the conversation naturally turned to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and the rejection – and disdain – that many supporters of the entire crypto movement have for what are known as “fiat currencies.” Most people know fiat currencies as everything from afghanis (Afghanistan) to zlotys (Poland), with dollars, yen and euros in-between.

As the questions filed by the conference’s app popped up on the screen at the Blockchain in Oil & Gas conference in Houston earlier this month, it was pretty clear there were two types of people in the audience.

The first were those who had a solid understanding of distributed ledger technology (DLT). Then there was the other group, people who knew something, but maybe not a lot. The anonymity provided by the question tool allowed some of those just getting their blockchain “legs” to ask those basic queries without fearing they might engender eye rolls and head shakes.